Top 100 Baseball Blog

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Ray Schalk
has one of the most impressive baseball resumes one can find when combing
through the annals of the game. The catcher had a distinguished 18-year playing
career and was a “Clean Sox” on the infamous 1919 Chicago Black Sox
before moving on to a career in coaching. He was ultimately inducted in the
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955 but nearly didn’t live to see that moment because
of the time he was taken
hostage by armed robbers at his bowling alley.

Schalk, a native of Illinois, played all but his final
season (1929) with the Chicago White Sox. Although he hit just a combined .253
with 11 home runs in his career, he was considered a superb defensive player
and a strong team leader. He was considered so unimpeachable that he was known
as one of the Clean Sox; unable to be corrupted by the dishonesty of his 1919
teammates. Once he hung up his catching equipment, he held coaching jobs around
professional baseball but maintained a home base in Chicago. His career allowed
him the capital to invest in business ventures; one of them being Ray Schalk’s
Evergreen Towers, a Windy City bowling alley.

Evidently, the alley enjoyed some success—to the point it
became a target for a gang of thieves. In early June, 1948, Schalk was in his
office at the premises when six gunmen (one held a machine gun while the others
were armed with pistols) masked by handkerchiefs forced their way in and
ordered him open his safe. The former ballplayer told the intruders that the
only person with the combination and key to access the vault was Lou Barbour,
the former secretary of the White Sox and then manager of the bowling alley.
Believing a big score was nigh, the robbers decided to wait.

In an effort to make their scheme go as smoothly as possible,
the robbers marched Schalk, his wife Lavinia, a coat check girl, a few
customers and approximately two dozen pin setters downstairs and locked them in
various rooms in the basement. In total, 36
people were held during the wait for the man with the combination and key. Chivalry
was not bypassed altogether, as one of the gunmen provided
Mrs. Schalk with a moist towel after she complained of a headache.

Ironically, Barbour, who was walking to work that day, was
picked up and given a ride by Lou Riddering, the Evergreen Park police chief. An
appreciative Barbour invited his benefactor in for a drink but was rebuffed.
Little did he know how much he would soon wish his offer had been accepted.

When Barbour walked into the building, it must have seemed
eerily quiet at first but that feeling would have likely been quickly replaced
by great alarm, as two robbers with drawn guns quickly cornered him and
demanded money. Under duress, the safe was opened and ne’er-do-wells extracted
nearly $2,000, and then with the use of a crowbar, proceeded to make off with
an additional $800 from the adjacent bar that was owned by Schalk’s business
partner. Adding insult to injury, the six men helped themselves to the keys to
the old catcher’s 1947 Buick and roared off with their ill-gotten gains.

Schalk and the hostages were held for a couple of hours. Shortly
after the robbers fled, some of the pin boys broke
down the door. Their situation had been more dire than the rest, as they
were confined in an airtight liquor storage room and a couple had passed out
from the lack of air. The brave souls who broke out carefully surveyed the
premises and after ascertaining that their tormentors were gone, they freed the
rest of their companions.

A thorough investigation ensued but the culprits were never
caught. In a city not far removed from Al Capone and gangland hysteria, this
crime may not have registered as high on the scale as it might have in other
communities in terms of shock value. However, it was a close call for the
Chicago icon, who survived the ordeal and ended up living until 1970 when he
passed away sat the age of 77.